My Little Pony: Nine Elements

Book 3

Written by Brandon Nell, Rachael Ravens, and Blake Hawkins

Chapter 12: Games Ponies Play

Twilight, Spike, and their friends were traveling back home to Ponyville. It had been a long day, but, in the end, they had managed to accomplish what they had set out to do. The Crystal Empire had been chosen to host the Equestria Games, Twilight had learned an important technique for staying cool, and Rarity had learned a valuable lesson about what happens when you try to cut corners. Despite this, there were still some details that Rarity and Spike weren’t aware of. They had spent all their time in the crystal spa, tending to Princess Cadance. Twilight and the others had been busy greeting Ms. Harshwhinny, or at least somepony they had thought was her.

“So,” Spike said. “You decided to tell the story in turns moments ago. Who’s going first?”

“How about you go first, Twilight?” Fluttershy offered. “It was your idea.”

“Very well,” Twilight said. And this was the story she told.

First, we were waiting at the train station for any signs of the Games Inspector, especially her flower print luggage.

"So, what’s the plan?" Fluttershy asked Twilight on the way to the station.

"It's quite simple," Twilight explained. "We meet Ms. Harshwhinny at the station, bring her back to the castle with us, put on our big welcome committee how-do-you-do, and we're golden."

“Sounds simple,” Applejack commented.

"Not quite,” Rainbow said. “We need to remember that Ms. Harswhinny arriving early is probably part of a plan to psych us out."

“Are we sure about that, Rainbow?” Twilight asked. “It was probably just a miscommunication that resulted in us thinking she wouldn't be here for a few more hours. Happens all the time."

“We’re not dealing with the royal guards in Canterlot, Twilight,” Rainbow said. “"You said it yourself. She's got a rep for trying to catch hosts off-guard, just to see if we can handle the kind of massive pressure that comes with hosting the Equestria Games."

“Are you saying it’s wrong for her to do her job as the Games Inspector?” Pinkie asked.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Rainbow said. "What's important is that we stay one step ahead of her the entire time. We can't fall for her mind games."

“Easier said than done,” Fluttershy said. “Don’t you remember what happened with Discord?”

“That was different!” Rainbow said. “Ms. Harshwhinny’s a non-crystal earth pony. She can’t cast spells. Anything she throws at us, we just need to remember she's testing us and roll with it. We've only got one shot at this, so we can't screw it up.”

Soon, we saw a mare with a floral print bag stepping out of a train car. Unbeknownst to us at the time, this wasn’t Ms. Harshwhinny. Instead, it was Ms. Peachbottom, the wandering mustang mare.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Rainbow said to her politely.

“Yeah?” the mare asked.

“Ahem,” Twilight said, approaching Ms. Peachbottom. “I know you weren’t expecting us, but, are you Ms. Harshwhinny?”

Unfortunately, the mare didn’t hear Twilight properly. For at that very moment, the train that had brought her here had blown its whistle. The noise was so loud that it covered up Twilight's question and the mare misunderstood what was being asked.

“Oh, sure ah am, thank ya fer noticin’,” Ms. Peachbottom said.

Twilight gave a sigh of relief. “Yes,” she said. “We’re personally welcoming you to the Crystal Empire.”

“Well, ain’t that the cat’s meow!” Ms. Peachbottom smiled. “Ah hardly ever expected anythin’ like this, but, this is lovely.”

"Princess Cadance insisted that we be part o’ the welcomin' committee,” Applejack explained. “Let's just say, it was a honor we were more’n happy ta accept."

“The Princess Cadance herself?!” Ms. Peachbottom said with an excited gasp.

"None other! And she'll be very happy to meet you," Twilight replied. "She's a bit busy at the moment, but, she insisted we meet you here and escort you to the castle."

“Well~!” Ms. Peachbottom said happily. “This just keeps gettin’ better n’ better! Please, lead the way.”

"Can we help you with your luggage?" Fluttershy asked politely.

“Don’t mind if ya do,” Ms. Peachbottom said. “Though, be careful. They’re mighty heavy even fer an earth pony.”

Applejack walked over to the bag and attempted to pick it up. As she picked it up, she thought she felt a bit of heft to it, but, with her natural strength, simply shrugged it off.

“I love the floral print on your bag,” Fluttershy commented.

Applejack looked uneasily at the bag on her back and didn’t watch where she was going, nearly clunking the mare in the head with it as she used her mouth to grab the handle in an attempt to adjust it.

“Shorreh~!” Applejack said, the bag handle in between her teeth.

“Don’t fret none,” the mare said. “Ain’t as bad as when ah dropped it on mah hooves a few times.”

“Our first stop is the castle,” Pinkie said excitedly. “There, we’ve got a big super-duper spectacular welcome just for you, ma’am!”

“This is going well so far,” Rainbow said to Twilight.

After Twilight finished telling her part, she turned her attention to Pinkie.

“Pinkie,” Twilight offered. “Would you like to go next?”

“Okay,” Pinkie said. “Now, I had my doubts that mare was Ms. Harshwhinny because of the way she acted so surprised and her accent. I tried pointing it out to Rainbow, but–”

“Rainbow,” Pinkie said, during the flashback. “Don’t you find it weird that Ms. Harshwhinny’s so surprised and is speaking with that accent?”

“I told you,” Rainbow said. “It’s a test. Besides, she was on the next train just like Golden Hooves said.”

“Are you sure that was the next train?” Pinkie asked. “Because when I looked at the clock when we arrived at the station–”

“We don’t have time for that, Pinkie,” Rainbow said. “We’ve got a welcome routine to put on.”

I threw enough surprise parties to know the difference between real and fake surprise, but, I could tell Dashie wasn’t going to listen, so, I decided to not bother saying anything. So, anyway, we arrived at the castle.

Twilight and the others led the mare they thought was Ms. Harshwhinny to the outskirts of the crystal castle. The mare seemed rather impressed. "Mah golly, the crystal castle!" the mare gasped. "Why, ah've seen a few pictures of it, but, ah never expected to see it with mah very own eyes! From the inside no less, this is certainly an honor!"

“She’s so nice,” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Yeah,” Pinkie said. “Kind of makes me wonder why she’s called Ms. Harshwhinny.”

"You're letting her lull you into a false sense of confidence," Rainbow Dash warned the two. "She's acting nice to catch us off guard! It's all part of the game. We've got to stay alert. Remember what's at stake here!"

The mare followed Twilight and the others into the Crystal Castle. She was amazed by how breathtakingly gorgeous it looked.

“Oh, mah, ah’m so excited~” she squealed. “It’s even more beautiful seeing it in real life!”

“I’m pleased to hear you’re so excited,” Twilight said. “Now, if you'll kindly take a seat, we can begin our performance."

“Oh, boy~” Ms. Peachbottom said, taking a seat. “Go ahead, please. Though, after that, ah need ta take a quick run ‘round the castle. Been a long train ride n’ ah need ta stretch mah legs.”

“Of course, ma’am,” Twilight nodded. She then turned to her friends. “Ready, girls?”

I still had my suspicions, so, I pulled Rainbow in.

“Rainbow,” Pinkie said. “It looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here.”

"She was probably testing us to see if we could remain in control of a complex situation," Rainbow Dash replied. "Looks like we passed, but, we've got to expect the unexpected if we're going to stay ahead of her."

Knowing that Rainbow still wasn’t listening, I shrugged it off and we performed our routine.

“We’re ready,” Pinkie said.

“Two, four, six, eight
Name a place that’s really great!
One, two, three, four
Keeps you coming back for more!
Two, seven, nine, three,
The place where we all want to be!
Four, three, two, one
The Crystal Empire, that’s the one!”

With a blast from Pinkie's party cannon (and some impressive aerial acrobatics from Rainbow), the five mares broke off the pyramid. The mare was greatly impressed.

“That was wonderful!” Ms. Peachbottom cheered. “Oh, yeah!” She gave a loud cheering whistle, stomping her front hooves.

"That's fantastic! Princess Cadance would be so glad to hear that!" Twilight replied happily.

“Ah’m honestly surprised she even knows ‘bout me at all,” Ms. Peachbottom said.

This left the mares a bit confused. Thinking that this was still a supposed test, Twilight spoke up.

“Of course she knows about you, ma’am,” Twilight said. “She’s been expecting your visit for weeks.”

“The princess was really lookin’ forward ta seein’ me?” the mare asked.

“Of course she was,” Rainbow said. “After all, you’re Ms. Harshwhinny, the inspector for the Equestria Games Committee."

Ms. Peachbottom was confused by this. “Who’s Ms. Harshwhinny? Ah ain’t never heard that name before.”

The realization hit most of the mares like a ton of bricks.

“We gave the welcome to the wrong pony?!” Rainbow exclaimed. “How’d that even happen?!”

“Hmm,” Pinkie said. “I don’t know. It’s not like we arrived at the train station too early and found the first pony with flower print luggage or double checked to see if the mare with said floral print luggage really was the Equestria Games judge. Where, oh where, would there have been any issue?”

“What are you getting at, Pinkie?” Rainbow demanded.

“Well,” Pinkie said. “Back at the spa, when you said the next train arrived in 15 minutes, I looked at a clock in the spa and memorized the time you said it. When I looked at the clock at the train station, I saw that it was seven minutes past the time I memorized. And when Twilight tried to ask if she really was Ms. Harshwhinny, the whistle from the train was too loud and it covered up Twilight’s voice. I was standing closer to Twilight so I could understand her better, but, this mare was too close to the engine that she mostly heard the whistle instead of Twilight.*”

“Why didn’t you say that sooner?!” Rainbow said.

“I tried to,” Pinkie said. “But, you said, quote, ‘we don’t have time for that, Pinkie, we’ve got a welcome routine to put on.’ End quote.”

Twilight took this especially hard, remembering what she had said about her at the spa earlier.

“Pinkie Pie, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I should have never said you shouldn’t have come and for calling you a martyr for being so justifiably sad. If it wasn’t for you figuring this out, we don’t know where we would have been. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course I can, Twilight,” Pinkie smiled. “And I did.”

“Hold on,” Applejack said. “Then, if this ain’t Ms. Harshwhinny… then, where’s the real Ms. Harshwhinny?!”

“‘Fraid ah can’t help much,” Ms. Peachbottom said. “Incidentally, ah’m Ms. Peachbottom, just an ordinary wild mustang from Mustangia here ta enjoy a little vay-cay. Ah heard this place was a good tourist destination, so, ah thought ah'd check it out. Sorry if ah caused any trouble. Ah never intended ta impersonate no important inspector pony."

“No,” Rainbow said dismally. “This was all my fault. I wanted so badly for the Crystal Empire to get the chance to host the Equestria Games that I was quick to greet the first pony I saw that seemed to match the description.”

“The description was just, ‘earth pony mare, ‘bout average height, with red flower print luggage,’” Applejack said. “If’n Spike were here, ah bet he’d say that weren’t much ta go off.”

“You’re right,” Ms. Peachbottom said. “That don’t sound like much ta go off o’. Why, ah can’t even count the total number o’ ponies with the same luggage style as mine. Ah went on a train with thirty other ponies that had a luggage style like mine last month alone.”

“Well,” Fluttershy said. “We can’t just stand here now feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to go out there and find the real Ms. Harshwhinny.”

“Fluttershy’s right,” Twilight said. “Panicking isn’t going to fix anything.” Rainbow raised a hoof. “I know that’s rich coming from me when I panicked over Princess Celestia giving me a test, but, need I remind you that I’ve gotten over my fear of failing her by now, Rainbow?”

Rainbow lowered her hoof. “So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go out and find her!”

“N’ Ms. Peachbottom,” Applejack said. “Ya can go n’ enjoy the rest o’ yer vacation here.”

“Sounds good ta me!” the mare said as she rushed off.

“Rainbow,” Twilight said. “We need to be more patient this time. Impatience on your end is part of what caused this mixup in the first place.”

“Believe me, I know now,” Rainbow said. “I can already tell Spike’ll chew me out for this.”

Back in the present, Rainbow had a look of resignation. “Go ahead, Spike,” she said. “Chew me out.”

“I’m almost sorry to disappoint you,” Spike said. “But, I’ll refrain from that.”

“What?” Rainbow asked.

“Because I can tell you feel regret for what you did,” he replied. “And you had apologized back at the spa, I’m not going to chew you out for that. Besides, you weren’t provided much details to go off of and you can’t help that.”

“Wow,” Rainbow said, with a relieved smile. “Thanks, Spike.”

“Twilight decided ta ask Cadance fer advice,” Applejack said. “Only problem was she weren’t there.”

“I remember that part,” Spike said.

“Long story short,” Rarity clarified. “I thought I could skip a step in the instructions and it didn’t really work out.”

“But,” Spike said. “I don’t know what happened after that before you came back.”

“Well,” Fluttershy said. “Before she left, Twilight told us to make Ms. Peachbottom feel as welcome as possible. Twilight said that her not being the inspector was all the more reason to not suddenly change how we've treated her. We needed to show Ms. Harshwhinny how welcoming the Crystal Empire can be. And what better way to show that than with a tourist who's never been to this place before?"

“That makes sense,” Spike admitted.

“I offered to give her a tour of the castle when she was done with her run,” Rainbow said.

“I’m not so sure that’s such a good idea, Rainbow,” Spike said. “We don't really know our way around that place. And it's awfully big.**”

“That’s what ah said,” Applejack commented. “But, Rainbow thought it couldn’t be that big.”

“I also noticed that Ms. Peachbottom was a bit claustrophobic,” Fluttershy said.

“I admittedly encountered Ms. Harshwhinny on the way to the spa,” Twilight said.

In the flashback, Twilight hadn't gotten very far when she noticed an earth pony mare with a brilliant orange coat, a very light gold mane and tail, cut professionally short, brilliant cornflower blue eyes, what looked like a purple business dress, and her Cutie Mark depicted a golden trophy. Said mare was dragging her luggage along and from the looks of things, she seemed very cross.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Twilight said to the mare.

“I am in no mood to chitchat,” the mare said in an annoyed tone of voice. “Even if that was my first hello of the day.” Suddenly, a cart came along and accidentally splashed her when it passed over a puddle. “Oh, botheration!”

“Do you need any help?” Twilight offered.

"Well, I wouldn't mind having somepony lend me a hoof with my luggage. If that's not too much to ask," the mare said crossly.

“It’s not too much, ma’am,” Twilight said politely. “Let me help.” Twilight used her magic to lift the luggage.

"Thanks for the help," The mare replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important business to tend to." And with that, she set off to explore more of the empire.

Twilight got a look at the mare’s luggage and gasped. “Wait, ma’am!” she called out, but, the mare was already gone. “Oh, dear. What am I going to do? Hopefully, Cadance has some advice. I wonder how close Rarity and Sunny are to finishing her mane.”

Back in the present, Twilight had finished telling her second part.

“Well, Spike and Rarity know what happened when I reached the spa,” she said.

“So,” Rarity said. “What happened after that?”

“Well, Indigo led me to the stadium,” Twilight said. “Is it okay if I tell that part?”

“Go ahead, Mom,” Spike said.

“Thank you,” she said before continuing.

The crystal stadium wasn't as impressive to look at as the castle or the spa, but, compared to most sports stadiums in Equestria, it looked splendid. Clearly, no expense had been spared to give the Crystal Empire a stadium worthy of its namesake.

“You’ve clearly spared no expense,” Twilight said.

“Actually, it didn’t cost us anything,” Indigo said. “We just used our crystal pony magic to remodel the old coliseum into this. Prince Shining Armor gave us the specs to follow.”

“Warmup time is almost over, everypony,” said a familiar voice. “You’re really going to have to put your legs to the test if you want to gallop to the finish line!” Twilight knew the voice at once. When she turned her head, she found Shining Armor. He was wearing a red sports cap and had a whistle hanging around his neck. Occasionally, he would use his magic to bring up a clipboard and make notes of something. All the while, various crystal ponies were either running around the track, lifting weights, or participating in one of many different physical activities.

“Shining Armor,” Twilight said happily.

Shining Armor turned his attention to Twilight. “Hey, Twily!” He then noticed the worried look on her face. “Is everything okay?”

“Well, here’s the situation,” Twilight said. “We got a message that Ms. Harshwhinny would be arriving on the next train as well as Cadance’s mane stylist getting the flu, Rainbow rushed us to the station before the next train even arrived, we gave the welcome routine to the wrong pony, the real Ms. Harshwhinny is somewhere out there, and we have no idea where. Does any part of that sound okay?”

“That is a lot to take in,” Shining Armor admitted. “I may be busy coaching these athletes, but, I can always help my little sister and her friends. Oh, hold on a second.” He then began barking orders at the athletes. “Come on, gang! Are we going to gallop or are we going to trot!?” He turned his attention back to Twilight. “Okay, so how can I help? What do you have to go off?”

“Just earth pony mare, about average height, with red flower print luggage,” Twilight said.

“Th-that’s it?” Shining Armor said, bewildered. “I would have thought there would also be a photograph of her included as a reference.”

“Well,” Twilight said. “I think I may have bumped into her on the way to the spa. I saw she had luggage that fit the description, but, when I asked for confirmation on her identity, she was already gone.”

“I take it you didn’t see which direction she went?” Shining Armor asked.

“Unfortunately, no,” Twilight admitted.

“That is a problem,” Shining replied. “I have to say, you’re taking this pretty well. Did Cadance teach you that breathing technique?”

“She did,” Twilight answered. “How did you know?”

“I’m the one who taught it to her,” Shining explained.

“Ah~” Twilight nodded. “I always wondered how you maintained your sanity working with those… less than competent guards.”

“Anyway,” Shining continued. “Some advice I would give you is to try and look around places where a pony of importance could go.”

Before Twilight had a chance to reply, a familiar voice cried out "Ah'm outside! Feels so good to stretch the ol’ legs!" In the blink of an eye, Ms. Peachbottom appeared with the remaining four guardians following.

“What the-?!” Shining Armor said. “Who’s that?”

“Well, remember how I said we gave the welcome routine to the wrong pony?” Twilight explained before gesturing to Ms. Peachbottom.

“Ah,” Shining Armor replied, quickly getting the message.

"Turns out the Crystal Castle doesn't have a gymnasium after all," Rainbow Dash said nervously.

"Watch out!" Shining Armor shouted, just before Ms. Peachbottom crashed through one of the hurdles on the track.

“Oof!” Ms. Peachbottom said. “Ah’m alright!” She then continued running.

“You have to make her stop,” Shining said to Rainbow. “If she keeps this up, she could hurt somepony, herself more than the crystal ponies!”

"So, she's a bit on the clumsy side. I hardly think that makes her a danger to anypony," Rainbow Dash replied. "If it's what makes her happy, who am I to complain?"

No sooner had Rainbow said that than there was another crashing noise, followed by what sounded like skidding.

“Look out!” Shining Armor called.

Ms. Peachbottom had forgotten to take her surroundings into account and somehow managed to get her head stuck in a vase. This caused her to panic and run frantically. Shining glared at Rainbow while gesturing to the scene before them.

“Yeah, okay,” Rainbow said. “We need to stop her.” She took off to try and catch Ms. Peachbottom before she could do anymore damage.

By the time Rainbow Dash got close, Ms. Peachbottom was frantic. She was yelping something, but, the vase prevented anypony else from hearing what she was trying to say.

“It looks like Ms. Peachbottom’s afraid of enclosed spaces,” Fluttershy said. “That vase on her head isn’t doing her any favors.”

Rainbow flew closer to Ms. Peachbottom, careful of her flailing limbs. “Closer… closer…” she said. Finally, she grabbed the vase, which she tried to remove, but, found it difficult. So difficult in fact, that when she finally managed to yank it off, the force flung her through the air. "Yaaaaaaah!" she screamed. She thudded, crashing into the roof of the spa. The glass gave off an audible squeak as Rainbow Dash slowly slid down to the ground. “Ow,” she groaned. “Note to self: roofs of crystal buildings, not the softest place to land.”

Back in the present, Rarity realized that was what the sound was.

“Oh, my,” Rarity said. “I remember hearing that as Sunny and I were getting Cadance’s headdress back into shape. Are you alright, Rainbow?”

“I’d say the roof did more damage to me,” Rainbow admitted.

“I see,” Rarity said. “Anyway, please continue.”

“Ah’ll take over here,” Applejack said.

Back in the flashback, Ms. Peachbottom, for her part, was relieved and very glad to have the vase removed. "Hoo-eee! Oh, that felt good! Nothin' like a great run ta shake the cobwebs off these ol’ bones," she said eagerly. Rainbow flew in, mangled from the tussle. “Hey there, Speedy. All these open spaces ya got ‘round here remind me o’ home. This is great!”

"Oh! So you're enjoying your visit? Well, I'm so glad for you!" Rainbow Dash said in between pants.

“Thank ya kindly,” Ms. Peachbottom smiled. “Ah just love ta travel n’ see new places. It’s how ah got mah Cutie Mark after all. This spot in particular is just beautiful~”

Indigo stepped up to Rainbow. “What’s this about a gymnasium?”

"Well, Ms. Peachbottom kept insisting she needed a place to stretch her legs," Rainbow Dash explained. "We were trying to see if we could find the castle gymnasium. How were we supposed to know there wasn't one?"

“So, you basically gave her a tour of a place you didn’t know very well?” Indigo asked flatly.

“Oh,” Rainbow said with an embarrassed blush. “Right.”

“That’s the point ah tried ta make,” Applejack commented. “But, that ain’t even the worst part.”

“So, what is the worst part?” Indigo asked.

“We each took turns splittin’ up ta go look fer Ms. Harshwhinny,” Applejack explained. “We’ve been over almost the whole empire n’ found nothin’.”

“Only thing is that we didn’t check the spa,” Pinkie piped up. “But, there’s no point looking there. If she was there, it’d be game over.”

“Wait,” Indigo said. “None of you checked the spa?”

It was at that moment, realization hit them all like a ton of bricks.

“We have to check there fast!” Twilight said.

And off they ran like a shot, even Ms. Peachbottom followed them.

Back in the present, Twilight was wrapping up.

“And that’s pretty much all that happened before we ran into you again,” Twilight said.

“Why didn’t you just teleport yourself and the others to the spa?” Spike asked.

“I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to form a clear mental image,” Twilight explained.

“That’s fair,” Spike shrugged.

“If there's one thing I've learned from this experience, it's that whenever things go wrong, it's always best to stay calm and not panic," Twilight continued. "When you panic, you're much more likely to make a mistake. If I'd overreacted the way I normally did, this whole situation could've ended a lot differently."

“You know?” Spike said. “That would make a great friendship lesson for the princess.”

“Do you think you can also add what I learned in that letter?” Rainbow asked.

“That depends,” Spike said. “Would you care to explain what you learned?”

“I learned that it feels good to help others get something you always wanted, but, never had,” Rainbow explained. “It almost feels just as good as getting it yourself. Almost.”

So, Spike jotted down the letter about what the two learned on a scroll, rolled it up, and sent it off.

“It’s too bad we couldn’t bring the Cutie Mark Crusaders along,” Rarity said. “Sweetie Belle would’ve loved to see the Crystal Empire.”

“Given how hectic things went,” Spike said. “I’m not sure those were ideal circumstances.”

“Although,” Twilight said. “We can come back to watch the Equestria Games when they’re going to be played and we’ll be able to bring them with us.”

“Ah just hope Discord don’t try ta crash ‘em since he weren’t invited,” Applejack said. “We tried sendin’ him an invitation, but, we don’t know where he lives er if he’s even there.”

“I’m sure Princess Celestia or Princess Luna will do something about that,” Twilight said. “He could still be traveling throughout Equestria, so, he might not have settled down in one finite area yet.”

"I'm sure that whenever he's ready to come back and be with his friends again, he'll let us know," Pinkie Pie replied. "Something tells me he's going to have something big planned for us. Probably the biggest welcome back party ever."

Neither of them suspected that Discord was watching them through a hole in the fabric of reality in what looked like a tropical beach location.

“Hmm…” Discord said softly to himself. I might just come back someday, but, I’ll still need a bit more time.

End of chapter.

Author's Note

Here's the next chapter.

*Pinkie's keen observation FTW.

**An excellent point.

If you liked this chapter, feel free to contact me via private messages if you'd like to help make future chapters.